There are many heartbreaking tales behind the record number of Canadians using food banks as they struggle with high inflation and mounting housing costs, says a Vancouver food bank executive.

91裸聊视频淲e see parents who are skipping meals so that their children can eat. We see people who haven91裸聊视频檛 eaten in days. We see seniors who haven91裸聊视频檛 had produce in months,91裸聊视频� said Cynthia Boulter, chief operating officer with Greater Vancouver Food Banks.

More and more people are accessing its services each year, and with greater frequency than in the past, Boulter said, as low wages and high rents squeeze people between inflation and other rising costs.

Boulter said the 91裸聊视频渦nprecedented, record-breaking times91裸聊视频� are being felt by food banks across the country, where nearly two million people visited in the month of March, 32 per cent more than the same month the year before, and a 78 per cent increase compared with March 2019.

The numbers, contained in Food Banks Canada91裸聊视频檚 annual Hunger Count report, highlight how Canadians are more food insecure than ever before as governments have seemingly ignored 91裸聊视频渂laring alarm bells,91裸聊视频� the report said.

The data was collected from food banks across Canada, and this year91裸聊视频檚 Hunger Count, as well as other studies, show more and more Canadians are 91裸聊视频渟truggling to pay for basic expenses, and that levels of food insecurity are rising dramatically.91裸聊视频�

Seniors, single mothers, low-income workers, people on social assistance, and immigrants continue to drive food bank use, but this year91裸聊视频檚 report showed a rise in use among working people in higher income brackets.

More than 40 per cent of users are on provincial social assistance programs, the report said, with stagnant payments thatput most recipients under the official poverty line.

Indigenous people are disproportionately represented among food bank users at 12 per cent, while making up around five per cent of the general population, the report said.

More than a quarter of food bank users are immigrants who have been in Canada for less than a decade, the report said, a usage rate that has doubled since 2016.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 one thing to look at a report filled with these big numbers,91裸聊视频� said Food Banks Canada91裸聊视频檚 CEO Kirstin Beardsley. 91裸聊视频淏ehind every single one of these numbers is a person, and I know what it takes for someone to get to the point where they91裸聊视频檙e turning to a food bank for help, and so you replicate that two million times in a single month and it91裸聊视频檚 heartbreaking.91裸聊视频�

Beardsley said that those in the food bank sector across the country say the explosive growth in usage numbers are 91裸聊视频渦nsustainable.91裸聊视频�

Political action, she said, means that governments need to make 91裸聊视频渓ong term social policy investments,91裸聊视频� from action on affordable housing to increasing fixed income rates.

91裸聊视频淭hese are investments in our ability to thrive as a nation,91裸聊视频� she said.

As the affordability crisis has intensified, Beardsley said, people who work at food banks 91裸聊视频渜uite frankly, are shouldering too much of this burden.91裸聊视频�

Food bank usage is a 91裸聊视频渜uiet problem91裸聊视频� where many people 91裸聊视频渟uffer in silence,91裸聊视频� she said, and only widespread public outrage will drive the political courage to create meaningful change.

91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e not talking about a small investment in the future of this country,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淲hat really drives political courage, to be honest, is everyday folks like you and I getting mad enough to make this a ballot issue, to make this an issue at the election, to not let our elected officials at every level of government off the hook anymore.91裸聊视频�

Even as the report paints a grim picture, Beardsley said food banks remain places of 91裸聊视频渉ope,91裸聊视频� where communities come together to lift up those in need.

For those in the food bank sector to be ultimately successful would mean no more need for them, and they91裸聊视频檙e essentially hoping to work themselves 91裸聊视频渙ut of a job,91裸聊视频� she said.

Until then, Beardsley said, 91裸聊视频渢here91裸聊视频檚 no choice but to keep raising our voices, telling our stories, sharing the data, and if we91裸聊视频檝e got a whole country behind us, I don91裸聊视频檛 think we can be ignored.91裸聊视频�

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